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Character analysis in king Oedipus
Analysis of king oedipus
Oedipus the King and Antigone tragedy
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Oedipus
The play Oedipus The King begins with the king and queen of Thebes, Laius and Jocasta.
Laius was warned by an oracle that his own son would kill him and that he would marry his mother, Jocasta. Determined to reverse their fate, Laius pierced and bound his newborn sons feet and sent a servant away with him with strict instructions to leave the child to die on the mountain of Cithaeron. However, the servant felt badly for the infant and gave him to a shepherd who then gave the child to Polybus, king of Corinth, a neighboring realm. Polybus then named the child Oedipus (swollen foot) and raised him as his own son. Oedipus was never told that he was adopted, and when an oracle told him that he would murder his father and marry his mother he fled the city believing that the king and queen of Corinth were his parents. In the course of his travels, he met and killed Laius, thinking that the king and his servants were a band of robbers, and thus unwittingly fulfilled the prophecy.
Oedipus then continued his traveling, and arrived at the kingdom of Thebes, which was plagued by a horrible beast, they called the Sphinx. The frightful creature frequented the roads to the city, asking travelers her riddle then eating them when they could not answer correctly. Oedipus answered the riddle the Sphinx presented him with correctly, saving the city and becoming a hero. Believing that robbers had killed Laius, and grateful to Oedipus for ridding them of the dreadful Sphinx, the Thebans rewarded Oedipus by making him their king and graciously giving Queen Jocasta as his new wife.
The kingdom of Thebes was exultant, and the kingdom prospered under their new ruler, but again a grievous plague fell upon the city. The oracle was consulted to give
an answer on how to rid themselves of the plague. The oracle proclaimed that Laius’s murderer must be punished in order to rid the city of the dreadful plague. Teiresias, a blind prophet was summoned to help the kingdom with their terrible calamity. He revealed that Oedipus was the murderer and that he was sleeping with his own mother. Oedipus did not believe Teiresias at first but slowly began to realize that it was true. In grief and despair of their incestuous life, Jocasta killed herself, and Oedipus, after learning of her death then blinded himself and was banished from Thebes forever, leaving Creon, his brothe...
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...en back inside, Oedipus reared his ugly head. “ Do not take them from me.” In which Creon answers, “Wish not to govern all, for what you ruled will not follow you throughout life” (Sophocles, 120).
Throughout the play Oedipus displayed conflicting feelings as to whether he was more concerned for his people, who were going through a terrible time, or concern for his own past and future. In the prologue, when Oedipus first entered the scene he noticed his people were gathered around the alters and spoke to them with concern about what was going on. He acknowledged that the plague had taken its toll on his people and he assured them that he was taking action to remedy the situation. But then he turned it all around that he was bearing most of the burden, not his people, therefore asking for pity and being selfish. In my opinion, I do not believe that Oedipus was as concerned for his people in the end. He was too caught up in finding the truth about himself and then denying what was told to him. I thou roughly enjoyed this selection. Sophocles was indeed a wonderful playwright. He was able to create a story that will touch everyone in the way that Greek tragedies were supposed to.
The suffering people of Thebes surrounded the priest’s palace. The priest had turned to king oedipus and when the king saw the crowd he was confused as to why they were there. He realized that a plagued had come to his city. The crops were dying and a lot of sicknesses everywhere. Oedipus had solved the riddle of the Sphinx so he is seen as a hero at the time, therefore, they wanted him to save Thebes. However, when the people of Thebes goes to him for an answer on the plague he does not know the problem. Therefore, Oedipus sends Creon who is his brother in law to go the the oracle of Delphi in order to find a way to end the plague. Creon found out the reason for the plague and all the citizens hear that it is the king’s pollution. The god Apollo sent for the plague and asks that the killer of the former king Lias be found then be put to exile. In order for the city to be rebuilt and the plague to end thy had to find the murderer. Since he had not known the killer of the former king, he had cursed the murderer and ended up cursing
A new plague comes over the land of Thebes and Oedipus wants to help his people. He begins searching for the solution. At the same time he worries that he may also be killed by whoever killed King Laios. At one point he is talking to his uncle/ Brother-in-law Creon in which he states, “And not as though it were for some distant friend, But for my own sake, to be rid of evil. Whoever killed King Laios might – who knows? – decide at any moment to kill me as well. By avenging the murdered king I protect myself.” (Prologue. 139-...
After Oedipus becomes king of Thebes, the people of Thebes become plagued. Oedipus’ feels responsible for saving the people of Thebes. Oedipus’ pride to save the city later turns to pity after he divulges the sin he has committed. His pride forces him to find the traitor who murdered Laius. He eventually finds out that he is the sinner and gouges his eyes out to prove that he is not worthy of sight.
Oedipus becomes a more admirable character by the end of the play then during the prologue of the play. This is because his history is reveled and his fate seems to be less of his fault and more of something that was doomed to happen to him, also by his drive to help the city of Thebes shows that he cares for the city and his ability to accept his fate but to try and help others from suffering.
(l.131)” In a desperate situation to save. his city, Oedipus focuses on Laios’ murder, consequently beginning the play with the mystery of, “Who killed King Laios?” To help him in his. quest, Oedipus calls for the blind prophet Teiresias to use his powers.
Continuing on his way, Oedipus found Thebes plagued by the Sphinx, who put a riddle to all passersby and destroyed those who could not answer. Oedipus solved the riddle, and the Sphinx killed herself. In reward, he received the throne of Thebes and the hand of the widowed queen, his mother, Jocasta. They had four children: Eteocles, Polyneices, Antigone, and Ismene. Later, when the truth became known, Jocasta committed suicide, and Oedipus, after blinding himself, went into exile, leaving his brother-in-law Creon as regent. The central theme in this work is that one cannot control his/her fate, whether the intentions are good or bad. Oedipus, the main character in this play is motivated to find the truth, and his intentions are good. The motivation is always followed by the intentions, just as the truth is followed by goodness. There are three critical parts to Oedipus's motivation. There is the prophecy, the realization, and the revelation. They will be discussed consecutively.
The play "Oedipus Rex" is a very full and lively one to say the least. Everything a reader could ask for is included in this play. There is excitement, suspense, happiness, sorrow, and much more. Truth is the main theme of the play. Oedipus cannot accept the truth as it comes to him or even where it comes from. He is blinded in his own life, trying to ignore the truth of his life. Oedipus will find out that truth is rock solid. The story is mainly about a young man named Oedipus who is trying to find out more knowledge than he can handle. The story starts off by telling us that Oedipus has seen his moira, his fate, and finds out that in the future he will end up killing his father and marrying his mother. Thinking that his mother and father were Polybos and Merope, the only parents he knew, he ran away from home and went far away so he could change his fate and not end up harming his family. Oedipus will later find out that he cannot change fate because he has no control over it, only the God's can control what happens. Oedipus is a very healthy person with a strong willed mind who will never give up until he gets what he wants. Unfortunately, in this story these will not be good trait to have.
While still traveling, Oedipus had come to the city of Thebes. There, he saved the city from the wrath of the Sphinx by solving her riddle. Seen as a savior by the citizens of Thebes, Oedipus was made king and subsequently, the husband of Jocasta. Oedipus and his wife-mother ruled together and had four children while never knowing of the true relationship between each other.
The play's plot, in a nutshell, develops like this. After solving the riddle of the Sphynx, who had kept Thebes under a curse of some kind, Oedipus is invited to become king of the city. He marries Jocasta, the widow of the previous king, and they have two children. When the play begins, Thebes is again under some sort of curse, and Oedipus tries to find out its cause so that he can rescue the city. He is told that the cause of the curse is that the murderer of the previous king is still in the city and has gone unpunished. In the process of searching for the murderer, Oedipus discovers that it is he, himself, who is responsible and that he is actually the son of Jocasta and her previous husband. Horrified by his sins of incest and murder, Oedipus claws out his eyes. Jocasta commits suicide because she is so disgraced.
Oedipus Rex”, by Socrates, is a play that shows the fault of men and the ultimate power of the gods. Throughout the play, the main character, Oedipus, continually failed to recognize the fault in human condition, and these failures let to his ultimate demise. Oedipus failed to realize that he, himself was the true answer to the riddle of the Sphinx. Oedipus ignored the truth told to him by the oracles and the drunk at the party, also. These attempts to get around his fate which was determined by the gods was his biggest mistake. Oedipus was filled with hubris and this angered the gods. He believed he was more that a man. These beliefs cause him to ignore the limits he had in being a man. Oedipus needed to look at Teiresias as his window to his future.
In the tragic play of Oedipus, the prideful king, Oedipus, who demolished the curse of the Sphinx is now the king of Thebes due to their previous king, Laius, being killed by his own son. Furthermore, Oedipus married the queen the queen of Thebes (Jocasta) and has four children. The tragic unfolding starts to begin as the town of Thebes is under another plague and the only way it can be broken is by finding Laius’ killer. Oedipus, being prideful, accuses his wife’s brother, Creon as the unrighteous killer. As the story unfolds slowly, Oedipus finds out that he himself was the killer of his own father and married his mother. Because of this news, Jocasta hangs herself because she cannot bare to live with the shameful embarrassment. In addition,
Oedipus was a victime of fate, his futur was foretold by an Oracle, he had no way of knowing that his wife was his mother nor that the stranger he killed was his father. Oedipus could not prevent his own downfall. Oedipus was the king of Thebes, he became king when he cured the city of a deadly plague. He cured the plague by solving the riddle of the mythical creature, the Sphinkx. Now the city is suffering from another plague and as king Oedipus must solve the riddle of this one.
Oedipus was born in Corinth and later moved to Thebes. He killed his father and married his mother. He was king of Thebes. The name Oedipus stands for swollen foot which came from his own swollen foot. Oedipus and his mother , Jocasta, had four kids: Eteocles, Polyneices, Antigone, and Ismene. On his way to Thebes with the second shepherd to gain his possession, he came across his father, Laius. Laius was on his way to the Oracle, Oedipus and the chariot driver started arguing about who had the right of way. The fight ended with Oedipus killing the chariot driver and his father. When Oedipus got to Thebes he was honored and crowned king by Creon and his uncle. He came acrossed the Sphinx which asks everyone the same question and no
Born to King Laius and Queen Jocasta in the city of Thebes, Oedipus is surrounded with controversy after a prophecy shows that Oedipus will be destined to murder his father and marry his mother. Fearing the potential consequences of the prophecy, Oedipus’ parents made the decision to abandon their baby at the top of a mountain to die using one of their servants. The servant’s consciousness, however, causes him to instead deliver the baby to a shepherd, who in turn sends him to King Polybius and Queen Merope of the kingdom Corinth. After raising the child as their own, Oedipus becomes suspicious that these weren’t his biological parents and leaves Corinth upon hearing the prophecy by the oracle Delphi. As he unknowingly travels to his birth city, Thebes, Oedipus murdered a man along with his servants after a dispute between them. Before entering Thebes, Oedipus is confronted by the guardian of the city’s Gates, the Sphinx who presents him with a riddle. If he solves the riddle, he will be able to pass. If he doesn’t, he’ll die. Oedipus’s superior intelligence and cleverness allows him to easily solve the riddle, however unbeknownst to him will be a foreshadowing of his tragic downfall. The citizens of Thebes praise Oedipus and Queen Jocasta offers to marry him since her husband was mysteriously murdered. Upon marry Jocasta and becoming the King of Thebes, a powerful plague decimates the citizens of
This soon-to-be king solved the riddle of the Sphinx, which had been killing the young men of Thebes as they tried to leave. The people of Thebes respected Oedipus, for he had saved the city from the Sphinx, by answering this riddle. For the removal of this monster he was praised by the city of Thebes and married the newly widowed Queen, Jocasta. Jocastas husband had been murdered by a "group of robbers" (who was actually Oedipus).